Evolution Review
by Jerry Saravia (faust668 AT aol DOT com)July 23rd, 2001
EVOLUTION
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
July 3rd, 2001
The beauty of comedy is that there are no rules and, quite simply, rules are made to be broken in the comedic arena. Director Ivan Reitman is often aware of this, as evidenced by his crude though subtly funny "Junior" and, his biggest hit, "Ghostbusters." Both films redefined the boundaries of good
taste by imbuing crudeness with cleverness rather than cheap, desperate gags a'la "Austin Powers" that only serve to make the audience puke. Consider Arnold Schwarzeneger as a pregnant man in "Junior," a premise that is otherwise ripe for gross-out humor. Instead that film built its premise with wit and engaging repartee between Schwarzeneger and Danny DeVito.
"Evolution" does the same thing, imbuing crudeness with cleverness. The premise deals with a community college science teacher (and former scientist), Ira Kane (David Duchovny), who partners with a sharp, jocose
scientist, Harry Block (Orlando Jones), to investigate a flaming meteor that has burned a hole through the ground into an underground cavern. Kane's class goes on a field trip to discover and study this meteor only to find some strange atmosphere has developed at an accelerated rate, not to mention some expanding and evolving wormlike creatures. Kane and Block realize this is no ordinary meteor - it is a fertile ground for alien creatures. At first, the creatures seem harmless in the form of butterflies until they later evolve
into flying dinosaurs, raging blue monkeys and some shapeless matter in the form of large intestines.
The only way to approach "Evolution" is by checking your brain at the entrance door of the cinema before the first reel is projected. It is a one-note joke movie to be sure but it has moments of eye-opening
special-effects, shrewd one-liners and moments where you will literally jump out of your seat. It mostly pokes fun at "Independence Day" right down to the climax involving those humongous intestines where a central digestive tract is the target for destruction - the expansive mass even looks like a spaceship. Mostly, the screenplay by David Diamond, David Weissman and Don
Jakoby focuses on bodily functions and sexual entendres, as well as creepy monsters hiding inside harmless looking alien slugs and such. Many of the sexual entendres center around Julianne Moore as an assistant to a soldier-scientist (Ted Levine) - she is regarded at one point as an "icy goddess in desperate need of some humping." Speaking of the ravishing Moore, it is nice to see her as a clumsy woman who keeps tripping over objects every once in a while.
"Evolution" is cutesy nonsense and often quite funny and engaging. It is actually a breath of fresh air as compared to the gross-out humor so reminiscent of most comedies nowadays - wit and some dry humor are this
film's virtues. As for performances, Duchvony and Jones make a delightful pair and Moore is lots of fun to watch - nice to see her handle comedy for a change in contrast with her dramatic roles. Only Ted Levine seems a little out of his element as the straight-faced soldier scientist, Dr. Woodman, who doesn't want Kane anywhere near these aliens.
"Evolution" is not as frantically funny or as visually inventive as Reitman's "Ghostbusters," but it will suffice in what has been a dry couple of years of laughless comedies.
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